


How I Remember All of the Good Things

by spuffyduds



Category: Hard Core Logo (1996), Southland
Genre: 1000-3000 words, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-26
Updated: 2010-01-26
Packaged: 2017-10-06 17:45:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/56222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spuffyduds/pseuds/spuffyduds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Set late in the first season of Southland, so, more or less present-day.  Not spoilery for that show, but spoilery for the end of Hard Core Logo.</p>
    </blockquote>





	How I Remember All of the Good Things

**Author's Note:**

> Set late in the first season of Southland, so, more or less present-day. Not spoilery for that show, but spoilery for the end of Hard Core Logo.

John winces and shifts in his seat a little. He can't quite get to the usual level of bearable pain that passes for comfortable; it's too weird being a passenger.

"You sure you don't mind helping out?" Ben says.

"Nah, nothing else lined up for today."

"What, no wall-building for your, um, cactuses? Cacti?" Ben says, and grins a little.

"Nope," John says, and then plays a hunch. "Tomorrow I'm gonna make a little brick border for my orchid hedge, though."

"Sounds nice."

"You don't know dick about plants, do you?"

Ben laughs. "Not a thing, no." He pulls up into a driveway and stops the car, and then practically bounces out of it, springier even than usual, like he's lighter without the workday gun and belt.

John takes a deep breath as something sweet and painful sweeps through him; he's not sure if it's lust, or nostalgia for being able to move like that himself. Probably both.

They head up the curved driveway. Big fucking house, nice neighborhood. "So, friend of your mom, huh? D'you know why he didn't want an official visit? Because if _he's_ mixed up in some shit..."

"No, nothing like that," Ben says. "She says he just wanted to make sure there wasn't any publicity, hates showing up in the blogs. Tragic past or something."

"He's some kind of rockstar, tragic past is _required_, right?" John says. "He probably bought it on eBay."

Ben snorts and bounds up the front stairs to the door, and John sighs.

*********************************************

The guy who opens the door to Ben's knock is wiry and lined and weirdly familiar looking, but "William Boisy" hadn't pinged anything when Ben's mom was talking about him, so familiar _why_?

He waves them in and says, "Sherman, right? How's your mom doing, good? And you're..."

"Cooper."

Ben stares at him while he closes the door, and then Boisy says, "You guys want lemonade?" and smiles, and Ben _knows_ that smile from a band poster, it was on the wall of his _room_, it's--

"Tallent!" Ben blurts.

Coop gives him a long level stare. Of course he does; without context that makes as much sense as yelling "Thrift!" Or "Chastity!"

Ben flushes and says, "Billy Tallent, right? Jenifur?"

"The fuck are you talking about?" Coop says, and Ben fills him in a little while Tallent gets their lemonade.

"Stage name," he says. "A couple big hits, late nineties? That one about 'snowflakes make a sizzling sound, why is that, why is that?' They were good. You guys were good!" he says as Tallent comes back with a tray. "I have that snowflake one on my iPod," he adds, and carefully doesn't look at Coop.

"Thanks," Tallent says. "Yeah, was a good band. Popular doesn't _have_ to mean it sucks. Some people don't get that," he adds, and glares into an empty corner. Coop gives Ben a quick _oh great he's high_ look.

Ben shrugs, and says, "Can you tell us what's been happening? Mom was, you know, kinda vague."

"Yeah, sure. Starting about a month ago, any time I'm gone more than a couple of days, recording sessions or whatever, when I come back there's one or two things smashed, looks like they got thrown against the wall. Nothing really valuable broken, and nothing's ever missing. But it's creeping me out that somebody's getting in, you know? I've been really good about the alarm and all, so I don't get how they're getting in. Plus my daughter's getting home from college next week, so... I need to figure out what's going on before then, make sure the place is secure, you know?"

"Sure," Ben says.

"I left the ones I found when I got in this morning, so you could have a look. Couple glasses on the kitchen floor," Tallent says, and gives them a little _c'mon with_ head-jerk, and they follow him to the kitchen.

****************************************

Ben hunkers down to look at the smashed glasses, and John opens his mouth to ask Tallent if he can inspect the window latches and door locks, but then he gets distracted by Ben hunkering down and just leaves his mouth open.

Tallent makes a soft noise next to him. John shuts his mouth hard and takes a look, and Tallent--Tallent is taking in the view too, with pretty fucking obvious appreciation. Weird to see it like that, just--out in the open. "Huh," John says, and Tallent grins at him, says, "Must be hell on _you_."

"What? No," John says, and Ben looks up and says, "What are you guys talking--" and then one of the cabinet doors swings open and a glass sails out of it, flies across the room and smashes against the opposite wall.

They all three freeze for a second, and then Tallent yells, "Jesus _Christ_, it was you the whole time? Do _not_ fuck with my head like that! You better quit this shit before Billie gets home, she's just getting used to you being around at all, you don't need to pull poltergeist shit on her, you cunt."

"Ah?" John says, because Tallent's talking to an empty corner of the room again.

"Billie's my daughter," Tallent says, like that was the part of that conversation that needed explaining.

"Oh," John says, and Ben stands up, blinks at them both, and says, "Billie is...Billie _Junior_?"

"Not my fucking idea, believe me," Tallent says. "And Jesus, I'm sorry, if I'd realized this was just Joe being an asshole I wouldn't have bothered you guys. Tell your mom sorry for me, okay?"

**********************************************************

"No, that's fine, just--what exactly is happening?" Ben says.

Tallent shrugs. "He's got abandonment issues, I guess. Everybody's got abandonment issues. You?"

For just a second Ben can taste blood in the back of his throat, and his stomach turns a little. "No," he says.

"Ben," Coop says in this weird strangled voice. "Look."

Ben looks, and in the air in front of them, right at eye level, a drop of blood is forming. It gets bigger and shinier and then plops wetly to the floor.

"Jesus, Joe, that's just gross, cut it out," Tallent says, and puts his hand on Ben's shoulder and pushes a little, and then somehow Ben and Coop are stumbling out the front door, with Tallent apologizing some more and sending his regards to Ben's mother and closing the door behind them.

They walk silently to the car and climb in. Ben sits for a minute and then says, "What just happened?"

"Nothing," Coop says, wincing as he twists to put on his seat belt. "I saw nothing, I heard nothing, I don't remember jack, we are not gonna talk about this, ever." Then his lips twitch and he says, "Well, we're talking about one thing."

"What?"

Coop grins at him and squeaks, "Oooooh, I have _that_ one on my _iPod_!"

"Shut _up_," Ben says, and starts the car.

 

\--END--


End file.
